Ashby councillor Nick Rushton has stressed the importance of voting in next month's local elections.

The leader of Leicestershire County Council says they are the 'most important in a generation'.

In just under a fortnight's time, Leicestershire voters will go to the polls.

More than 5,000 people tuned in to the virtual hustings, hosted the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service on Wednesday night, which saw Tory leader Rushton, Simon Galton, leader of the local Lib Dems and Cllr Eynon, answer the questions of viewers and voters.

There are 55 seats available in the council chamber at County Hall in Glenfield.

The Tories will be hoping to extend their more than two-decade stint at the top table: they won 36 seats in the 2017 election, the Lib Dems secured 13 and Labour six.

The trio debated issues including social care, highways, the environment and fairer funding.

Before the discussions began, each leader was given some time to set out their key pledges and promises and convince votes to put a cross in their box come May 6.

Here's what Cllr Rushton had to say: ""This election is the most important in a generation, especially following the Covid situation.

"We have a plan for a cleaner, greener Leicestershire – we pledge to plant 700,000 trees, that's one for every resident.

"We'll invest £16million in projects reducing carbon, as well as reducing our emissions by 70 per cent.

"We promise to invest extra in the environment, filling potholes, keeping our highways safe, reducing speeding in our communities, clearing more gulleys to help with flooding and we've given £150,000 to the Wombles (voluntary litter pickers).

"We've had a strong Covid response and recovery and we're very proud of the way the council stepped in to support vulnerable people, worked with the NHS and Public Health to roll out Test and Trace and are now helping with vaccinations.

"We have committed £4.3 million in direct support for businesses, charities, community groups, rural pub grants, free school meals and provided £40m to prevent the social care market from collapsing during the pandemic.

"We want a strong economy and to invest in the future, we all know Covid has hit the economy hard. We have a plan.

"I'm delighted that we have secured a freeport for Leicestershire, we're even more delighted to have been appointed lead local authority to spearhead the success of the freeport.

"We will always protect and safeguard vulnerable people, as a Conservative administration, I'm particularly proud of what we have done to protect vulnerable people and children. Whilst the demand for services increases, we will always protect and safeguard those who need it."

"A vote for us on May 6 means a cleaner and greener Leicestershire, healthier and safer communities, extra investment in our environment and transport, a zero tolerance of Covid, we will protect vulnerable children and adults and we will prudently use the money that we take from voters."

Coalville-based Labour leader Cllr Eynon said: "One of the problems that a lot of voters have, all the focus seems to be on what happens at Westminster when what we're doing here in Leicestershire is so much more important because we are implementing things that make a genuine difference to people's lives.

"The county council does huge things but also makes really intimate decisions, for example, your gran or your great uncle can't get out of the bath any more the county council makes the decision on whether or not they get an assessment, whether or not they are allowed to have adaptations, decisions that affect families all across Leicestershire.

"All politics is about priorities, we don't see ourselves as in County Hall to represent developers or businesses, we see ourselves as there to represent residents and customers and people who care about things, like climate change.

"I'm very pleased that we worked with Extinction Rebellion, and with their enthusiasm we brought forward a motion to council to declare a climate emergency.

"That's something we all agree on, and that is actually changing policy.

"It was the Labour group who insisted and suggested measuring increasing tree cover and bringing in some smart targets. That was a good idea and shows the level of influence you can have, even as a relatively small party.

"Another thing we all agree on is that we are the lowest funded council in England and that is really difficult, we are not just trimming the fat, we are cutting into the muscle, the parts of the council that are necessary to provide the care that we have to give, care for vulnerable children, care for vulnerable and disabled people, it cuts into our ability to do that to a satisfactory level.

"All councillors want to do their best but this is where it gets difficult for members of the ruling group, because they are all members of the party who is in Government and they are not listening and I feel that as the Labour group we have the advantage of being consistent.

"Looking at other areas, bidding, for example. During the pandemic the PM said let's have lots of cycle ways, we of course want them, but how do we get them, bidding – one council against another which is an enormous waste of time and energy and how is it that you put all the effort in and you don't get the funding, it's such a waste.

"There are only six of us at the county council at the moment, we'd of course like more, but that is actually one in five voters.

"We've tried not to make grand plans or promises, too often they turn into disappointments. Our manifesto sets out things that we have done and things that we still want to do."

Simon Galton – Liberal Democrats - added: "It is absolutely right that Covid recovery is the first priority. It's essential that Leicestershire's economy has every opportunity to bounce back from the crisis.

"Particular focus will be on people who have lost their jobs, we wnat to help them and those that need support. To do that we want to form better partnerships with our colleagues in the district councils to make sure there is a joined up approach. There have been significant issues there, particularly around funding.

"We think we can do a better job at integrating local government, not just for Covid but for a range of public services.

"The thing I want to focus on is the absolute, dire, serious financial situation facing Leicestershire County Council. You don't need to take my word for it, read the chief officer's report, we are the worst funded council in terms of support from the Conservative Government. The Conservatives have failed to deliver fair funding for Leicestershire and it is really showing.

"We consistently come bottom of the pile for Government support and cash, even leafy Surrey does better than Leicestershire and we are concerned that Leicestershire is being taken forgranted, at a local level and certainly at a national level.

"Fair funding has been promised, review after review, it has never come about.

"We want to get back to basics on a range of things the council is responsible for, particularly highways.

"People are entitled to ask why there are so many examples of poorly maintained roads and pavements in Leicestershire?, why it takes so long to get a drain unblocked or gulley cleaned out, why we have problems with grass cutting.

"And the answer is because these services have been cut back millions of pounds over the years, so, we would do as we can do inside County Hall, cut back on glossy magazines.

"Bread and butter services are suffering, we would focus on getting our roads repaired, getting support to people in communities, working better with district councils, make our streets safer – if people want to have their street lights turned back on, after the Conservatives turned them off, we would let them have them back on.

"Build, build, build is putting much of Leicestershire's beautiful countryside at risk, not only is our countryside at risk, we don't know where the infrastructure is coming from to support this growth and our roads and services are already at breaking point. Build, build, build needs to be challenged."